Toothed drum for treating cotton



J. C. GARNER.

TOOTHED DRUM FUR TREATING COTTON.

APPLICATION FlL ED FEB-31920,

Patented Apr. 18, 1-922.

ears stare areas res.

JAMES C. GARNER, OF HOU$TOI-I, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE GARNER GIN COMPANY, INC, 01? HOUSTON, TEXAS, A. CORPORATION OF TEXAS.

TOOTHED DRUM: FOR TREATING COTTON.

naiaoso.

Specification of Letters IEatent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1922.

To all w 710m it may concern."

Be it known that I, JAMns C. GARNER, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toothed Drums for Treating Cotton, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in the toothed drums which are used in treat ing cotton; for example, used when separating the fibers of cotton from each other for the purpose of cleaning and purifying it and improving its grade. It consists in providing for each drum a series of saw disks which are made in such way that crimps or corrugations can be formed in the toothed peripheral part of each disk without distorting the general cylindrical surface described by the points of the teeth and marring or severely straining the central part of the disk which is mounted on the driving shaft.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a face view of one of the disks.

Fig. *2 is a side elevation showing some of the elements of a drum in the relative positions occupied prior to their being clamped together.

' Fig. 3 shows the same parts that are illustrated in Fig. 2 after the clamping'has been effected and the disks have been crimped.

1, 1 indicate the saw disks. Each of these is initially made as a flat circular blank, and is provided with a'series of teeth 1 which may be formed and related to the disk as is usually done in making the teeth on the disks of cotton picking or separating drums. Each blank is formed with a central aperture 2 such as to permit the disk to be fitted snugly, though loosely, upon the shaft '7. In the shaft are formed one or more keyways 8. And the disks are cut to have keys or short feathers 5, whichfit in the keyways and permit axial movement of the disks. The disks are arranged as closely together along the shaft as is practicable. It is not practicable to have them in contact throughout the series, and each is spaced from those adjacent as follows: 7

9 are rodsfof any suitable number, here four. At the, ends of the series of saw disks the shaft carries collars 10, 10 having flanges 11, 11 These collars are held against rotations on the shaft by splines or feathers; but they can move axially along the shaft, and with them are combined nuts 13 which engage with threads on the shaft.

The rods 9 are supported by the flanges 11, 11?. As shown, two of the rods are, each at one end, rigidly connected tothe flange 11, the other ends being respectively fitted loosely in apertures in the flanges so that these rods and this flange 11 can have a relative sliding movement, 1f necessary. The other two rods 9 are similarly arranged and supported except that they are rigidly attached to the flange 11 and .fit loosely in apertures in the fiange 11.

Each of the disks is provided with aper tures indicated by 3, 3. There are four of them as shown, each being 90 degrees from either of those adjacent. They are arranged so as to permiteach rod 9 to be passed through one of the apertures in each disk.

The rods carry devices adapted to exert stress or pressure against the faces of the disks. These, as shown, are rings or annular collars 14, 149. They have short axes, that is, are relatively thin. They act as spacers or pressure devices in relation to the disks. One of them in each series, that at 14a, is axially longer than the other. It is at the end of the series outside of the extreme disk at that-end and between that disk and the adjacent flange 11 or 11*. axial series of spacers or pressure devices 14, 14 alternate with each other in respect to the position of the longer spacers 1 1*.

On one rod it lies adjacent to flange 11; on

either of the next rods it is adjacent to flange 11 7 Each disk has metal cut out from its sheet in such way as to permit to be flexed peculiarly, that is flexed at its periphery without flexing the central part so that corrugations can beread1ly formed in the toothed periphery.

In the present construction this is accomplished as follows: Sections of the disk are cut out of the shapes of the slots ate, 4, these being at points between the center and the periphery. 'Preferably when four rods 9 and four sets of flexing devices are used there are four slots formed such as shown at 4, 1. They are .cut to have their The several curved edges approximately concentric with the disk and at such distance from the center as to leave an approximately annular plate 15 of metal between the slots and the edge of the aperture 2. The length of each slotis such as to leave, between each and the next, areas of metal at 16 suflicient for the work of carrying the outer peripheral part at 17 without danger of fracture at points between the latter and the inner part 15.

Each slot is positioned relatively to an adjacent aperture 3 so that the radius of the disk passing through the aperture bisects the slot. In other words, it is advantageous to have the connecting strips at 16, of uncut metal, as closely as possible on radial lines midway between the radial lines of the apertures 8.

In Fig. 1 the positions of the pressure collars or crimping and spacing devices, are indicated at 14 in relation to the face of the disk.

After the several elements of the drum have been assembled and before axial pressure is exerted by the nuts 13, said elements will be approximately in the positions indicated in Fig. 2, the disks 1, 1 all being still flat; that is, each still having all ofits parts lying in the same transverse normal plane. But after such assembling the nuts 13, 13 are adjusted in such Way as to force the flanges 11, 11 toward each other. They are movable in this way because of the looseness of the connection of one end of each rod 9. As the flanges'approach each other there results a crimping or corrugating of the peripheral parts 17 17 of the disks, as the spacer 0r washer 1 1 on each of two of the rods acts to push the part 18 ofeach disk toward the opposite flange 11 or 11*; and at the same time the longer washers or spacers 14 on each of the other two next rods 9 tend to push the parts 19, 19 of each disk in the opposite direction. That is to say, when both of the collars with their flanges 11, 11* are being pushed toward each other the several series of washers or spacers 14:, with their alternately positioned longer spacer members 1 1 are pressingagainst the disks, the two diametrically opposite. parts 18, 18 of each disk periphery 17 will be flexed away from the normal plane of the disk, and the two intervening diametrically opposite parts 19, 19 of each disk periphery will be flexed in the opposite direction from said normal plane. This results in imparting a wave-like conformation to the periphcry of the disk, or corrugating it,

The purpose of thus flexing the sheet metal of the disks into corrugations, or imparting to the periphery a wave-shape, is now well known. I designed it in order to insure that when a drum, built up of such disks, is retating, there will be in every transverse alane or lane of rotation one or more rotating teeth, notwithstanding the fact that the disks are spaced apart along the axis as concerns their normal planes.

Ifa bat'composed of cotton of short fibers is advanced toward such a drum there is an assurance that every fiber, even the shortest, will, at each revolution of the drum, be caught by a tooth and very superior separating of the lint fibers is attained.

Drums built'up of disks having their peripheral parts crimped or corrugated are illustrated in Patent No. 1,017 ,637, issued Feb. 13, 1917, to me, and in 'Patent'1,180,133, dated April 18, 1916, issued to myself and C. S. Reynolds; and large numbers have been made.

The disks in the earlier drums were, practically, continuous sheets of metal, or in tegral from the edge of the axial apertures to the teeth. When crimping or corrugating stress was exerted on their peripheral parts it resulted not only in bending the fibers of the steel at the periphery, but also in straining, more or less, the integral parts of the steel entirely across the sheet to thecentral periphery. The results were, first, that the teeth were drawn to an undulating line whose points were at varying distances from the axis, those at the crests of the corrugations being at short radial distances while those in the normal plane of the disk would be at the longest radial distances; and, second, there was a tendency'to fracture the fibers of the steel at points between the periphery and the center because of the severe strains transmitted across the whole sheet at each line of flexing and crimping.

The present saw disk obviates thesedifli eulties. The peripheral part 17 of the sheet is carried partly by the central part 15 through the metallic plates or strips at 16, and partly by the gripping action of the spacers 1 1 and the rods: 9.

I But the cutting away of the metal at the places on the lines where the slots 4:, 4 are formed, renders the outer or peripheral part independent of the central or axialipart to such an extent that the metal outside of the slots is permitted to move radially outward, slightly, and the strains and distortions re Sllltll'lg from the lateral flexing or crimpin gs are not transmitted to the central part 15.

The metal at the periphery resists the inperipheryz A v.

What I claim is:

1. A disk for a toothed drum having a substantially circu lar continuous periphery with saw teeth, and having incisions cut therethrough on lines between the periphery and the center at places distributed aroundthe axis, to permit the peripheral part to be flexed from a normal'transverse plane onlines intersecting the sald lines of said 1noisions.

2. A disk for a toothed drum having a normally circular continuous periphery with teeth, and having relatively long incisions formed therein on lines between the periphery and the center and intersecting radial lines at places distributed uniformly aroundconcentric with the axis at points between the periphery and the axis to permit the periphery to be flexed from the normal transverse plane on radial lines intersecting the lines of the said incisions.

4:. A saw disk for a toothed drum having a continuous normally circular series of teeth at its periphery and having the metal cut away at areas between theperiphery and the center, substantially asset forth, to permit the peripheral part tobe crimped or corrugated independently of the central part.

5. A toothed drum of the class described, having a rotary holder and an axial series of sheet metal disks, each disk normallyhaving its parts positioned in a transverse plane, and having a series of incisions distributed around its center and formed on lines transverse to radial lines, and crimping devices, carried by the holder, arranged to adjustably flex the peripheral parts of each disk away from said transverse plane.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

JAMES C. GARNER. 

